Amagasaki


Amagasaki is an industrial city located in Hyōgo Prefecture, Japan. The city was founded on April 1, 1916. Its population is around 460,000, below its peak of over 554,000 in 1971.
As of April 2017, the city has an estimated population of 450,765 and a population density of 9,100 persons per km2. The total area is.

History

During the Edo period, the Amagasaki Domain had its administrative headquarters at Amagasaki Castle here.

Neighboring municipalities

Amagasaki is the hometown of comedy duo Downtown stars Masatoshi Hamada and Hitoshi Matsumoto. It is also the hometown of Formula 1 driver Kamui Kobayashi, Chiyu, the bassist of SuG, author Koushun Takami and Heath, bassist of X Japan. Hideki Irabu, an ex-MLB pitcher and Toshiaki Nishioka, a former world champion boxer, is also from this area.

Transportation

Railways

A commuter train derailed on the Fukuchiyama Line near Amagasaki on April 25, 2005, resulting in more than 100 dead and 550 injured.

Roads

On 22 November 2010 Kazumi Inamura became the first popularly elected Greens Japan Mayor as well as the youngest popularly-elected female mayor of the city with 54% of the vote.

Economy

Amagasaki is a major part of the Hanshin Industrial Region. Businesses headquartered in the city include manufacturers such as Osaka Titanium Technologies. The value of manufactured goods shipments in Amagasaki was 1,288 billion yen in 2004.
See also Hanshin Industrial Region.

Education

The city has a North Korean school, Amagasaki Korean Elementary and Middle School. It previously had a second school, Amagasaki East Korean Elementary School.

Sister cities